Trump threatens tariffs on countries opposing US takeover of Greenland
President Trump, for months, has insisted that the US should control Greenland, but has, for the first time, mentioned the use of tariffs.
President Donald Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US's control of Greenland.
Trump reiterated on Friday that the United States needs Greenland for national security.
"I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security," he said during a roundtable discussion on rural health care at the White House.
"I may do that for Greenland, too," Trump said, recounting a past exchange with French President Emmanuel Macron in which he used the threat of a sweeping 25 percent tariff to push for higher drug prices in France.
Trump, for months, has insisted that the US should control Greenland, a self-governing territory that is part of Denmark.
But the president had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.
Trump’s renewed insistence that Washington “needs Greenland” and his refusal to rule out the use of military force to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory have shocked European allies.
The issue has taken on new urgency after talks this week in Washington between US, Danish, and Greenlandic officials failed to resolve key disagreements.
Shortly afterwards, Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway announced plans to deploy a joint military mission to Greenland, citing growing security concerns in the Arctic.